La Clusaz is served by a good mixture of cable cars, drag and chair lifts, so you can travel to the top of the mountain quick and easily and more often than not with no queues at all. La Clusaz is a well kept secret amongst the Swiss and French, and offers excellent boarding opportunities for all levels. Because it is a lesser known resort it means more space on the pistes!

La Clusaz tends to get the first of the snow, and boarding back into the town centre is possible throughout the winter season, so you can step right into the aprés-ski after a hard day on th slopes. The snow record in both resorts is good and the authorities work hard at maintaining the snow.

Lift passes can be arranged in advance by gravité or online for La Clusaz and all of the Aravis ski resorts (providing over 220km of pistes) including Manigod, Le Grand Bornand and St Jean de Sixt (the Aravis pass). Boarding or free-riding lessons can also be booked in advance by your hosts on a group or private lessons basis. We have boards and boots to hire at our catered chalet at reasonable rates, just let us know what you want when you book.

(piste maps for La Clusaz and Le Grand Bornand)

La Clusaz provides a wide range of beginner slopes on the lower slopes near the town centre and on the Beauregard plateau, which is served by a high speed cable car. The Beauregard area has lovely gentle green runs to progress to, including one long one which takes you around the base of the mountain back to the village. For a first experience of chair lifts, take the long tree lined runs from the Cret de Merle to La Balme and back, which provide a fantastic alpine experience. Most of the beginners slopes are in close proximity to the mountain restaurants or town centre, which makes La Clusaz an ideal beginner site for boarders, and parties of mixed abilities. Beginner lessons can also be taken at the Croix Fry area of la Clusaz, which provides quieter gentler slopes, although served by mainly drag lifts.

For a change of scenery, Le Grand Bornand offers easy access to the Rosay area via a cable car. It is an ideal place to start, progressing on to the gentle slopes of La Joyere, Gettiers or Chinaillon.

If you are comfortable on blue and red slopes then La Clusaz offers an abundance of boarding with some fantastic wide long blue and reds in the La Balme area. These are also some of the highest runs, and therefore hold their snow very well, late into the season.

The L'Aiguille at La Clusaz is another of the three high altitude ski areas and provides the start of a long run down into the town. It is often quite mogully at the top and provides a real top to bottom leg burning challenge with stunning views. The main body of the La Clusaz ski runs are above the town and are good for boarders as there are accessed mostly by chair lifts. There is also a decent snow park and boarder cross.

The Etale and Col de Medassier areas are in the third highest area and offer the steepest runs which provide some good skiing. However the area is served mainly by drag lifts (although there will be another chair put in for the 2006/7 season), which have proved hard for all but experienced boarders.

Manigod and Beauregard are good areas for pottering amongst the trees and enjoying the scenery, as the runs are shorter and easier than their grading suggest.They also provide a means of completing the whole route around the La Clusaz ski area, which is a challenge for a day on ski's but can be a challenge for boarders.

La Balme area of La Clusaz, will be the most favourite of intermediate boarders as it offers some long wide runs. A tricky button in the adjoing bowl of Torchere, is well worth mastering.

The Maroly area of Le Grand Bornand is well served for boarders, as most of the prime runs are served by chairlifts rather than drags. It offers long wide motorway blue and red runs, which are excellent for practising those turns and perfecting your technique. Access to this area is generally recommended from the Tolar run which is a comfortable red, as the only other access is via a green run which is quite slow and frustrating for boarders. The area can also be accessed by Lachat, but it's not to be recommended as your first run of the day, as it's the steepest of the Le Grand Bornand runs. The snow park and boarder cross in Le Grand Bornand are also located in the Maroly area and have some decent graded jumps, rails and a half pipe.

Although not top of the resort listings for advanced boarders, La Clusaz offers some fantastic off-piste and demanding black runs.. Etale, Combe de Fernuy and La Balme both have long varied black runs, which are often unbashed and have good natural kickers. The off-piste on all of these can be great fun when the powder is good, and if you take advice on where to go. Guiding can be arranged. At the Col de Balme there are various renowned off-piste routes over the Col on both sides, however, these should never be attempted without a guide and are best to tackle in January or February when the snow is safer and the avalanche risk is lower.

Le Grand Bornand offers a few black runs off Mont Lachat and Floria. Although these are the first to be closed if the weather or snow conditions are poor. The best off-piste however is to be found in the Maroly area, which usually remains untouched for quite a while when the powder has just fallen.

Guiding by someone who knows the area is always recommended, as any off-piste skiing can be dangerous and is at your own risk. Advice should also be sought on snow and weather conditions on the day and avalanche warning signs noted.